StoreDot Says Solid-State Batteries Are At Least 10 Years Away

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CleanTechnica has given a lot of ink (digitally speaking) to StoreDot, the Israeli company that is presumed to be one of the leaders in solid-state battery technology. The company says it is currently testing batteries that can be recharged in as little as 5 minutes. It has attracted investments from Volvo Cars and Daimler Trucks. So it is a little surprising to hear StoreDot say in a press release that solid-state batteries are still 10 years away from commercial production and that automakers should focus on interim solutions in the meantime.

Solid-state batteries promise cost-effective, fast, and safe charging batteries with high energy densities, the company said this week. Nevertheless, they remain a work in progress and still face significant challenges before they can be manufactured at scale. A solid-state battery uses solid electrolytes instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in current technologies such as lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.

Dr Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot CEO, said, “It’s crucial that leading battery developers like StoreDot give global automotive manufacturers a realistic and hype-free road map for the introduction of extreme fast charging battery technologies. Right now, despite some of the bullish claims by our rivals, all solid state batteries are still at least 10 years away. They are certainly no silver bullet for any vehicle maker currently developing fast charging electric vehicle architectures.

“We believe a more practical step is the introduction of semi solid state batteries which we are targeting for mass production by 2028. These will be advanced, safe, high performing cells that can achieve 100 miles of charge in just three minutes. They have the additional benefit of requiring a simpler and less challenging manufacturing process than all solid state technologies.”

In March this year StoreDot revealed its “100inX” strategic technology road map, which featured three generations of StoreDot technologies — silicon dominant XFC, semi solid-state, and all solid-state. Those batteries are expected to be capable of adding 100 miles of range in 5 minutes, 100 miles of range in 3 minutes, and 100 miles of range in 2 minutes, respectively. The first group of batteries are expected to enter production in 2024, the second group in 2028, and the third group in 2032.

Last month StoreDot proved the superior performance of its extreme fast charging battery cell technology by delivering cells that exceeded 1000 cycles in production-ready EV form factor. These cells are now being shipped in pouch format to StoreDot’s global automotive OEM partners for intensive real world testing. They are expected to allow drivers to add 100 miles of range for every 5 minutes of charging.

The company has revolutionized the conventional lithium-ion battery by designing and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds, optimized by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, making it possible to charge an EV in under ten minutes — equaling the time need to refuel a typical car with a combustion engine.

StoreDot’s strategic investors and partners include Daimler, BP, VinFast, Volvo, Polestar, Ola Electric, Samsung, TDK, and its manufacturing partner EVE Energy. It says it is on target for mass production of its 100 miles in 5 minutes technology by 2024.

Toyota continues to insist it will be bringing cars with solid-state batteries to market by 2025. Most observers are quite skeptical of those claims. If fact, many believe if Toyota is staking its future viability as a vehicle manufacturer on such claims, it is in deep trouble. In the meantime, we continue to keep readers up to date with information about improvements in battery technology, like Group14’s new silicon anode process that holds much promise.

The upshot is, high power, fast charging, solid-state batteries are fairly far in the distance at the moment, but there are still plenty of breakthroughs taking place to keep EV advocates in no doubt that better batteries are on their way. The world desperately needs small, light, efficient EVs that ordinary people can afford.